Renowned digital strategists at Cinnamon Travel Bloggers Conference today

The Cinnamon Travel Bloggers conference and awards, Cinnamon TBC Asia kicks off today at Cinnamon Grand Colombo.  

The event is more than a conference for travel bloggers; it aims to recognise the value of both travel blogging and digital strategy for market success. The eminent speaker panel and topic line-up include specialised talks for brands looking to expand their digital portfolios and adopt successful marketing strategies. 

The talks are also delivered to help participants at the conference better understand their demographics and to develop focused strategies that increase reach. 

Two presentations delivered by award winning travel bloggers Dave and Deb of The Planet D deal with building and strategising influencer campaigns that work and the value of focused brand strategies. 

Halona Padiachy of PATA will help audiences understand the behaviour of Asian millennials, an essential demographic for most brands and services. Such talks will be of value not only for hospitality brands, but also related marketing industries to have a better understanding of today’s diverse digital landscape.

Some talks have been consciously focused on the value of going beyond the written word and evolving into exciting audio-visual content. Sara Polger of National Geographic will be key note speaker at Cinnamon TBC Asia and has chosen to address the immense impact of digital storytelling through photography and video. 

Steve Hanisch of Back-packer.org will be discussing the takeover of video blogging and its ability to be a powerful motivator for potential audiences. Radio journalist Henry Barchet’s talk is specifically on the value of creative audio recordings and podcasts as a means of reaching audiences on the go. Yet another talk by Joy Gosh of renowned digital solutions provider TravelClick specifically addresses video marketing and its impact on hospitality brands. 

Chinese digital media experts such as Dr. Mathew McDougall and Jens Threnhart will also deliver a series of talks on strategies to reach Chinese markets in the face of a mainstream digital media blackout in the country. The will help marketers be better equipped to deal with today’s global media challenges and develop strategies for long term success with large audience numbers in China.

Presentations designed for individuals and small brands vis-à-vis digital strategy is also a key focus of the conference. Two talks by award winning travel blogger Liz Carlson of Young Adventuress address the growing appeal of Instagram and taking small businesses to the next level with digital strategies; while Alvin Lim of Alvinology blog will speak on how small travel businesses can scale up from a one-man blog with his talk. 

Other talks include referral marketing and reputation management, sustainable sensitivities in tourism marketing.

The conference will conclude with a speed networking session to provide a personalized learning opportunity from 60 of the world’s top travel bloggers and digital specialists. In a short period of time, conference participants will be able to sit down with individual travel bloggers and network with them. A session of this nature is a rare opportunity and the first of its kind to be held at a conference in Sri Lanka.

Cinnamon TBC Asia is presented by Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts in association with the Professional Travel Bloggers Association (PTBA) and the national carrier SriLankan Airlines, and is also supported by Sri Lanka Tourism, Australian Aid – MDF, Uptown Kandy, IFC, Sri Lanka Convention Bureau, Reap Digital, TravelClick, Revinate, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, Cvisit, PATA, Four Communications, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Wijeya Newspapers and E FM.